New research finds extinction rates have been declining for a century, challenging assumptions of an ongoing mass extinction.

Chimneys spew pollution into the atmosphere in a ruined landscape. Within a human lifetime, concentrations of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere could reach levels associated with 19 "mass extinctions" that ...

Our planet’s first known mass extinction happened about 440 million years ago. Species diversity on Earth had been increasing over a period of roughly 30 million years, but that would come to a halt ...

Nearly all life that ever existed on Earth eventually disappeared. Five known mass extinctions wiped out up to 96 percent of ...

Earth has a long and dramatic history, and one recurring theme is extinction. Did you know that over the last 500 million years, our planet experienced five major mass extinction events? These events ...

(CNN) — No species lasts forever — extinction is part of the evolution of life. But at least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed the planet, killing off the vast majority of species from ...

A new theory on just what causes Earth’s worst mass extinctions may help settle the endless scientific dust-up on the matter. Whether you favor meteor impacts, volcanic eruptions, cosmic rays, ...

Most people think of crocodilians as living fossils—stubbornly unchanged, prehistoric relics that have ruled the world's swampiest corners for millions of years. But their evolutionary history tells a ...

A mass extinction event is already underway. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The present extinction rate of life on Earth doesn't ...

Mass extinction events represent intervals of abrupt, large‐scale loss of biodiversity that have repeatedly reshaped life on Earth. These crises are commonly linked to dramatic environmental ...

Tropical waters would experience the greatest loss of biodiversity, while polar species are at the highest risk of extinction. Climate-driven ocean warming and oxygen depletion would be the primary ...